Students say they have a hard time studying and cognitive science proves they’re not trying to dodge work: there’s a link between negative emotions and difficulties in concentrating.
Faced with uncertain and anxious times, brains send out instructions to start stockpiling supplies – whether you’re a person facing a pandemic, or a rodent prepping for a long winter.
It takes time for information from our eyes to reach our brains and become part of our conscious experience. So our brains use predictions to make up the delay.
It can feel like everyone is stewing in anxiety about COVID-19 and seeing other people freak out can make you freak out more. A psychiatrist explains this phenomenon, and how to keep it in check.
The captain of a ship, or a soul, doesn’t sail while ignoring the wind – sometimes they go with it, sometimes against it, but they always account for it.
Brain organoids are tiny models that neuroscientists use to learn more about how the brain grows and works. But new research finds important differences between the model and the real thing.
When you read in the back seat of the car, your eyes tell your brain you’re still. But your ears can sense you’re moving. Your eyes and ears are having an argument that your brain is trying to settle.
From dementia to depression to drug addiction, artificial brain stimulation has been hailed as a landmark medical technology for the future. But safeguards are needed if we want the benefits without the risks.
Cognitive neuroscience finds that regular consumption of pornography affects the centres of the brain responsible for will power, impulse control and morality.
We have more neurons in our cortices than any other species, courtesy of an early technology – and along with them came our long, slow lives, with plenty of chances to gather around the dinner table.